Lot-et-Garonnais Gérard Deguin elected vice-president of the Order of Pharmacists

The President of the New Aquitaine Order of Pharmacists Takes on New Roles. And the Challenges That Go With It

For the next three years, the pharmacist from Lot-et-Garonne will become vice-president of the Central Council of Section A of the Order of Pharmacists: that of pharmacy owners. This presents significant challenges for the entire profession, but also for rural areas. This includes the role of artificial intelligence in the profession, such as prescription verification, "which is done manually," explains Gérard Deguin.

Another hot topic for the profession, and also one of the key issues in the debate on the medical desertification, is the reform of the ^6th year of pharmacy. "At first, it seemed very interesting, as a recognition of the pharmacy profession, which offers a diploma in addition to the thesis." Indeed, the pharmacist profession is not uniform. There are those known to the general public, in their pharmacies, but also pharmacists in healthcare establishments, in industry, distributors, etc.

This ^sixth year offers a mandatory professional practice internship. "In underserved urban areas or in rural areas," explains Gérard Deguin. This is a way to combat the medical desertification that doesn't spare pharmacies, even though today, the skills of these health professionals are expanding (vaccinations, rapid diagnostic tests, etc.). "This text was supposed to be published six years ago..."

This new team, now chaired by Bruno Galan, already president of the Occitanie Order of Pharmacists, will also have to address vulnerable areas. "These are difficult texts to implement," the professional believes. Currently, only municipalities with more than 2,500 inhabitants are eligible to request the installation of a pharmacy. "But we have to take into account the distance between two pharmacies, look at the exemptions..." In these texts, for example, Lot-et-Garonne "is not fragile enough" to qualify for certain openings...

The team has three years to meet these challenges.